Sundance entry The Ledge, in which Terrence Howard plays a detective who is trying to talk Charlie Hunnam out of killing himself, has always seemed like one of those movies. A known but not terribly high-powered cast; a big setup; and a story that seems to uncomfortably weave a discussion about religion into the narrative. A movie about Issues, in other words, disguised none too cleverly as a thriller. (And it isn’t Man on a Ledge; that’s a different film with Sam Worthington.) Now that there is a trailer for the IFC release, it seems even more so. Check it out after the break, but be ready to see Patrick Wilson‘s righteous religious fury stir up some trouble.

In truth, I don’t much like the way religion seems to play into the story here, though I know this is just a trailer, which could be selling a specifically skewed version of the story. Still: enough with the crazy Christians. Not being of any particular faith I don’t even have a horse in that race; the character just rings false. Again, though, it might work better in the feature. But remember that this is the movie about which a producer said “As more and more films succumb to the visual wizardry of 3D, ‘The Ledge’ explores the fourth dimension: the interior life of tortured souls hovering over the precipice of emotional nullity.” Looks like Patrick Wilson is really the one hovering over emotional nullity more than anyone else.

This trailer shows us almost nothing of the detective played by Terrence Howard. The synopsis below announces that he has his own backstory to share with Charlie Hunnam’s character, as you’d expect, but we’ll have to wait for another trailer or the actual film to learn what it is. Germain reviewed the film at Sundance and really seemed to sum it up well by proclaiming that the whole ‘ledge’ subplot represented by the title feels like “a post script to a whole other movie.”

Still, see for yourself:

Want to see the trailer in HD? Yahoo has it, and won’t even strong-arm you into a suicidal act to see it. (Though you might be subjected to an ad.)

Gavin, a young college professor, has stepped out onto the ledge of a high-rise building, determined to jump. However, a detective, who has recently suffered his own tragedy, is sent to talk Gavin down. And as the detective and the professor discuss the circumstances that have brought them to the brink of suicide, they’ll need to convince each other that life is worth living.